Cleaning practices of transport vehicles by commercial and non-commercial livestock markets users in Scotland.

Background: Livestock markets are critical intermediaries in the movement of cattle and sheep between herds and to abattoirs. Disease prevention strategies promoting Cleansing & Disinfection (C&D) of vehicles moving animals from markets are in place in Scotland to reduce the risk of widespread transmission of pathogens within the livestock industry. However, little is known about how market users implement C&D on their vehicles and how these may differ between sectors of the industry.

Methods: An online questionnaire was completed by 72 Scottish market users to investigate C&D practices on livestock transport vehicles. Respondents were grouped based on their farming activities and biosecurity practices were compared between commercial and non-commercial users.

Results: The results showed a lower-than-expected use of brush or disinfectant and a shorter-than-expected time spent on C&D. Particularly, 43.6 % of respondents spent less than 30 min to C&D their vehicle, with no significant differences between respondents from commercial and non-commercial sectors (P = 0.75). Overall, we found little differences in C&D practices and level of training between sectors, highlighting the industrywide deficit in biosecurity knowledge.

Conclusions: These results highlight a need to improve the messaging and awareness on good C&D practices on transport vehicles. Regular training on C&D practices is recommended, particularly for commercial livestock transport.